By Lethbridge Herald on July 19, 2023.
Editor:
I am appalled.
Imagine if you will placing a call to 911 requesting assistance.
You go through the regular routine call and get sent to a different centre…
Most of us know this drill. Get all the info out, expect EMS to show up soonish. 45-50 minutes later you call again.
Same steps to go through and yes, you inform them you called a while ago only to be told ’oh well you didn’t get entered into the system.’ ( I’m referring to the original call).
This is our healthcare system as we know it.This is wrong. I am in the healthcare field and this actually occurred while i was working on my watch.
Something is broken, we know what. Isn’t it time someone stood up and fixed this?
I will be contacting anyone i can that will listen. This could have happened to your family member, your neighbour. It doesn’t really matter – it’s happening to Albertans and Canadians.
Bernadette Kaupp
Lethbridge
12-11
Regretfully you are correct. A few years ago a family member was having a health crisis and we called 911. 30 minutes later they arrived. The sad thing is we were within eyesight of the fire station. If they were out on a call it would be one thing but we saw the ambulance leave the station and it wasn’t out on a call. Next time we’ll go to their front door.
It is very sad and both Fire/EMS are run ragid daily with over 60% of their responses dealing with the addiction/homeless issues in Lethbridge.
That is why we push so hard to end this crisis by getting these people treated and off the streets and the criminals where they belong . . . in jail!
Don’t blame the first responders . . . blame the PM for his harm reduction programs that have proven in BC to be a failure after 20 years and one excuse after enough why it failed . . . the first safe injection site in North America opened Vancouver DTES in 2003 and it all went downhill from there!
Law enforcement utilizing drug courts and if refused jail, with effective treatment programs and a tough stance on drugs are what worked the best with minimal fatal overdoses and impacts to society and we need to return to that. It is cheaper by far to take 2 years in effective treatment programs if necessary.
All of our first responders are burning out, worn out and some leave their jobs, with recruiting tough because no one wants to work in such an abusive atmosphere that comes with dealing with the addicts and homeless where they now wear protective vests!
I do see some positive steps being taken in Lethbridge by putting on teams to deal with non-emergency issues that do not need trauma trained EMS/fire personnel and I can’t see why we cannot use specifically trained people to respond so overdoses, because street people often are seen doing CPR and giving Narcan/Naloxone, and when EMS arrives the patient refuses treatment and walks away. A waste of resources!
Spoken well from someone obviously who has observed first hand. What you say is the truth/reality. Many don’t want to see it. They don’t have to from their Sunset Acres observation site.
Wonder if SACPA will ever have a ewingbt as a main speaker? They are too chicken to do that. They only want the feel good stuff and woke stuff. It supports their Sunset Acres life style.
This:
“What’s happening to EMS in Alberta? Why some cities are fighting the province’s dispatch takeover.”
http://www.sprawlcalgary.com/whats-happening-to-ems-in-alberta
Quote-from this article:
“In 2009, Ed Stelmach’s progressive conservative government brought 60% of the provincial population under a consolidated AHS dispatch system with centralized call centres operating out of Edmonton, Calgary and Peace River. The idea was to standardize service across Alberta. The province granted exemptions to four large municipalities to continue local dispatch: Calgary, Wood Buffalo, Lethbridge and Red Deer”…..these exemptions have since been revoked by AHS under the UCP watch.
“Centralized dispatch sets the stage for privatization.”
Ironically, the Smith proposed AHS decentralization is also a setup for privatization….and for things, to get worse, not better. And, incredibly, folks actually voted for this. As has been said, buckle up.
“Stuff Danielle Smith says: Apparently Alberta Health Services decentralization can make the law of supply and demand go away!”
http://www.albertapolitics.ca